This invention relates to seat covers and, more particularly, to temporary disposable seat covers that are secured with an adhesive.
Temporary seat covers are frequently used to protect seats during their manufacturing, shipment or repair. Such seat covers are particularly important in settings such as automobile manufacturing where a seat may be exposed to numerous contaminants from the time the seat is manufactured until it is delivered to a customer. For instance, the manufacturing environment could expose a seat to airborne contaminants such as dust, oil or paint spray. Moreover, once the seat is installed, a number of workers (who may have soiled clothing or hands) must occupy the seat while performing final assembly and test operations and while transporting the vehicle from the factory to the automobile dealership. A temporary seat cover is important to insure that the seat reaches the customer in pristine condition. This increases customer satisfaction and avoids the necessity of subsequent cleaning operations.
Since temporary seat covers are generally disposed of after use, a key requirement for such seat covers is that they are inexpensive. This demands that the seat cover be made of a very low cost material, such as thin plastic sheeting. One drawback with such inexpensive materials is that they are slippery and inherently weak. Consequently, a major problem with conventional temporary seat covers is their tendency to slide on the seat as occupants enter and exit. This can result in the seat cover coming off, or tearing, due to excessive forces exerted on the seat cover at weak points. While some prior seat covers have incorporated external straps or cords to secure the seat cover, in general, these solutions are prohibitively expensive or require too much time to install. In most manufacturing environments and in vehicle manufacturing in particular, fast and simple installation is a critical requirement.
Another problem relating to seat manufacturing operations arises when seat accessories such as headrests are employed. Due to packaging considerations, seat units usually are shipped without the headrests installed. This is often because seats will not fit shipping racks with the headrests installed or because automotive seats cannot be loaded onto the vehicle with the headrest on due to clearance considerations. As a result, headrests frequently must be shipped separately and installed later, adding greatly to shipping, handling and assembly costs.
Thus, there is a need for a means to attach headrest or accessories to a seat prior to their installation and also for a means to protect headrests separately before and after the headrest is installed.
Also, there is a general need for a multi-purpose cover to protect goods during shipment and assembly. Previous covers often require the use of external fasteners such as staples, tape, etc. to secure the cover to the goods or to secure multiple goods together.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a temporary seat cover that has a low unit cost. It is a related object to provide a seat cover that is manufactured of inexpensive materials and utilizes inexpensive manufacturing processes while maintaining adequate strength.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a temporary seat cover that, once secured to the seat, will not easily slide, shift or tear during use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seat cover that is easily and quickly installed and secured to a seat and that does not require external securing means.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for quickly and securely applying a temporary seat cover to a seat.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a seat cover which can also hold seat accessories such as headrests to avoid the necessity of separate shipping and handling of the accessory.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a separate temporary headrest cover.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a protective cover for various kinds of goods which can securely enclose the goods and secure multiple goods together without the necessity of external fastening devices.